Knowledge & Insights
Risk management and due diligence insights, articles, reports, and resources
EBOOKS & REPORTS
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EBOOKS & REPORTS:
Playbook
Best Practices in Due Diligence Background Checks
Background checks are a crucial part of the due diligence process—as they identify potential risks posed by a company or its personnel, laying out all the information before investors so they can make more informed decisions.
This best practices playbook is a resource to properly navigate this essential step in the due diligence process. It should equip investors with sufficient knowledge about using background checks to make well-informed decisions and provide insight as to how to best implement these practices.
Playbook
Social Media – Enhancing Due Diligence Background Checks
In today’s digital age, social media holds significant power, especially in the financial industry. An adverse online post can be shared in the blink of an eye, dragging an executive’s name through the mud and ultimately causing long-lasting reputational damage. Not only that but there are financial consequences that could ensue, such as investors pulling back. As a result, a social media analysis has become a key consideration for investment professionals during the pre-investment due diligence process.
Playbook
A Beginner’s Guide to Background Checks in Operational Due Diligence
Before making any investment decisions, it’s essential to perform comprehensive operational due diligence to prevent organizations from financially devastating consequences. However, in today’s financial environment, operational due diligence needs to dig deeper than the standard checklist and include thorough background checks. The insights gained from a background check can give firms the confidence they need to make the most informed investment decisions.
eBook
Understanding the US Legal System’s Role in Due Diligence
When it comes to pre-investment due diligence, a basic understanding of the U.S. legal system can be invaluable, particularly in regard to background checks. In the event that a red flag appears on the legal section of a background check, you are better equipped to evaluate the result and gain better insight into a potential business partner or a C-suite executive.
Report
Intelligo Risk Barometer 2022
Pre-Investment Risks Indicators and Insights
Intelligo’s annual Risk Barometer analyzes and identifies the top pre-investment risks disclosed on the background checks we ran in the past year as a reference for future due diligence and analysis. The insights are based on data from thousands of background checks on individuals who were reviewed by Intelligo’s background intelligence technology and expert analysts.
eBook
Due Diligence in a new world –
AI and automation in the post-Covid era
The COVID pandemic has changed the professional landscape in many ways. In this report, we examine how those changes have impacted the the role of pre-investment due diligence how AI-based automation can streamline the process while increasing accuracy.
Report
Linkedin Lipstick –
Who’s Lying and How to Spot It
A LinkedIn presence has become essential. But when users can change their profiles at a whim, how much can we trust what we read? We used the latest in AI-powered background checking tools to review executive LinkedIn profiles, revealing just how reliable LinkedIn profiles can be in today’s world.
Report
Political Contributions – Their role in executive due diligence and why it matters
Political contributions are never far from the headlines. The implication that political influence can be bought is always sure to stir up a Twitter storm. In this report, we explore the trends in individual political donations, why it matters for executive management, and what red flags to watch out for.
WEBCASTS:
Webcast
Understanding the US Legal System
Legal nuances and their importance for investment decisions
We take a closer look at the U.S. judicial system and highlight the importance of its nuances in the context of your decision-making process. Intelligo’s senior analysts discuss various legal cases and demonstrate the importance of a proper analysis of background reports, from differences between federal and state-level cases to the most typical securities class actions.
Webcast
Top Pre-Investment Risks Disclosed
We analyze the top risks indicators and insights
Intelligo’s Co-founder and Chief Research Officer Dana Rakovsky joins Customer Success Manager Yishai Kurtz to discuss our latest report, the Intelligo Risk Barometer 2022. Our research analyzed and identified the top pre-investment risks disclosed on the background checks we ran in the past year in the “Intelligo Risk Barometer” as a reference for future due diligence and analysis.
Webinar
The ‘Digitalization’ of Due Diligence
Technology Supporting Human Insight
Join Private Equity Wire, Intelligo and industry experts Jacob Comer, from NovaQuest Capital Management as, Dan Sullivan from Diligent Vault and Kevin Wilson from Intelligo as we explore how technology is supporting human insight for better analysis of target companies in ‘The ‘Digitalization’ of Due Diligence.
FROM THE BLOG:
How Confirmation Bias Affects Investment Decisions
Using personal judgment to conduct due diligence may not be the optimal way to make business decisions. Many psychological studies show how our decision-making capabilities are limited due to the biases that are inherent in human nature. While the phrase ‘“go with your gut” may have positive implications, in reality, it could be fueled by “confirmation bias” — with disastrous repercussions for investors and decision-makers.
Background Check Trends From A Future Lense
While not much has principally changed in terms of employers being accountable for their employees’ actions, the future of due diligence seems to be taking some interesting twists and turns.
Beefing Up On Background Checks: Why So Many Companies Have Invested In The Screening Process
Globalization leads to a competitive talent search worldwide due to the borderless nature of employment, and companies have demonstrated an increase in demand to engage in the pre screening process. Protecting company reputation, making optimal business decisions, and ensuring employee and customer safety are among the top priorities for global brands looking to maintain their long term positions in the market. In 2018, for the 11th consecutive year, HireRight reported that the most popular types of background checks include employment, identity, criminal searches, and education verification.
The Cost of Employee Fraud (and How to Prevent It)
According to StatisticBrain research institute, employee theft is a crime that costs U.S. businesses $50 billion annually. On a global scale, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reported that the median loss to businesses due to employee and executive fraud is $145,000- or an aggregated $3.7 trillion annually. More specifically, a study by global specialist insurer Hiscox found that the financial services sector had the highest level of losses due to employment fraud across all industries. In 2016 losses were over $120 million. How can these alarming figures be avoided to prevent future devastating losses to businesses?
Fiction Or Fact: Debunking the Top Myths About Due Diligence
Although the due diligence and background check sectors seem to be particularly straightforward in operations (find out all you can about a candidate, use that information to make a go/no go hire or investment decision), there are many more intricacies and complexities than meet the eye. With the continuous dynamic changes in political, technological, legal, cultural, and essentially all realms of society, information overload is inescapable.
The Divided States of America. A look into the complexities of FCRA pre-hiring regulations across America
Selecting a new employee to join a company is no easy feat for a hiring manager. In this overly pressurized, highly competitive marketplace, managers are under intense scrutiny to ensure that they hire top talent individuals from the marketplace. Moreover, managers in the U.S. face a network of intricate and overwhelming complexities when it comes to hiring laws and regulations. While it may be called the United States (emphasis on the United), most states are quite divided about their policies toward conducting background checks and pre screening hiring procedures. Let’s examine some of those differences and see how they affect the due diligence process.
Answers to the Anti AI Arguments
Artificial Intelligence is unarguably changing your life whether you’re aware of it or not. Health care, cyber security, energy, finance, and tech are only a few of the infinite numbers of industries and ways in which AI is transforming society as we know it.
Trends in the Gig Economy: Will the Need for Due Diligence Increase?
Although the Gig Economy is not a new concept in the U.S., it has seen some significant growth in the last few years, not surprisingly due to technological developments. According to a 2015 study by the American Action Forum, the number of workers in the gig economy grew from 8.8 percent in 2002 to 14.4 percent in 2014.
Furthermore, independent contract workers grew by 2.1 million people from 2010 to 2014. The growth of the gig economy is sure to have first hand effects on the employment sector in more than one way.
These Corporate Giants Failed To Perform Background Checks On Their Employees. Here’s What Happened
Facebook, Amazon, Wells Fargo. These are companies that you would expect hire only the best of the best. But while their brand names may carry elite associations, their compliance practices are anything but superior. In the wake of corporate scandals, the list of fraudulent activities never seems to end—and some of the top Fortune 500 companies are no exception to the rule. Over the past ten years, employers and screening firms have had to pay more than $325 million to settle background check (or lack thereof) lawsuits. In this new social era of transparency, there seems to be conflicting interests between corporate trust and corporate unjust.
3 Ways the Proliferation of Data is Affecting Your Due Diligence
Recent trends show that it’s easier than ever to create fictional companies and returns, among other collaborating materials. In fact, a few months ago the SEC produced a fraudulent site to highlight just how easy it is to present the illusion of an up-and-coming, promising investment.
It is for that reason, among others, that we argue the uptick in fraud is correlated with the proliferation of data. And it’s directly affecting your due diligence.